Silica is one of the major scale and fouling problems in many processes using water. Silica is difficult to deal with because it can assume many low solubility chemical forms depending on the water chemistry and metal surface temperature conditions. Below about pH 9.0, monomeric silica has limited solubility (125–180 mg/L as SiO2) and tends to polymerize as these concentrations are exceeded to form insoluble (amorphous) oligomeric or colloidal silica. At higher pH, particularly above about pH 9.0, silica is soluble at increased concentrations of the monomeric silicate ion or in the multimeric forms of silica. Since conversion can be slow, all of these forms may exist at any one time. The silicate ion can react with polyvalent cations like magnesium and calcium commonly present in process waters to produce salts with very limited solubility. Thus it is common for a mixture of many forms to be present: monomeric, oligomeric and colloidal silica; magnesium silicate, calcium silicate and other silicate salts. In describing this complex system, it is common practice to refer to the mixture merely as silica or as silica and silicate. Herein these terms are used interchangeably.
To address such problem, methods for controlling deposition and fouling of silica or silicate salts on surfaces in a aqueous process have been derived and include: 1) inhibiting precipitation of the material from the process water; 2) dispersing precipitated material after it has formed in the bulk water; 3) maintaining an aqueous chemical environment that supports formation of increased residuals of soluble silica species; and 4) producing a non-adherent form of silica precipitants in the bulk water. The exact mechanism by which specific scale inhibition methods of the present inventions function is not well understood.
In industrial application, most scale and corrosion control methods used in aqueous systems typically rely on the addition of a scale and corrosion inhibitor in combination with controlled wastage of system water to prevent scale and corrosion problems. In this regard, the major scale formation potentials are contributed by the quantity of hardness (calcium and magnesium) and silica ions contributed by the source water, while the major corrosive potential results from the ionic or electrolytic strength in the system water.
Treatment methods to minimize corrosion have further generally relied on the addition of chemical additives that inhibit corrosion through suppression of corrosive reactions occurring at either the anode or the cathode present on the metal surface, or combinations of chemical additives that inhibit reactions at both the anode and cathode. The most commonly applied anodic inhibitors include chromate, molybdate, orthophosphate, nitrite and silicate whereas the most commonly applied cathodic inhibitors include polyphosphate, zinc, organic phosphates and calcium carbonate.
In view of toxicity and environmental concerns, the use of highly effective heavy metal corrosion inhibitors, such as chromate, have been strictly prohibited and most methods now rely on a balance of the scale formation and corrosive tendencies of the system water and are referred to in the art as alkaline treatment approaches. This balance, as applied in such treatment approaches, is defined by control of system water chemistry with indices such as LSI or Ryznar, and is used in conjunction with combinations of scale and corrosion inhibitor additives to inhibit scale formation and optimize corrosion protection at maximum concentration of dissolved solids in the source water. These methods, however, are still limited by the maximum concentration of silica and potential for silicate scale formation. Moreover, corrosion rates are also significantly higher than those available with use of heavy metals such as chromate. Along these lines, since the use of chromate and other toxic heavy metals has been restricted, as discussed above, corrosion protection has generally been limited to optimum ranges of 2 to 5 mils per year (mpy) for carbon steel when treating typical source water qualities with current corrosion control methods. Source waters that are high in dissolved solids or are naturally soft are even more difficult to treat, and typically have even higher corrosion rates.
In an alternative approach, a significant number of methods for controlling scale rely on addition of acid to treated systems to control pH and reduce scaling potentials at higher concentrations of source water chemistry. Such method allows conservation of water through modification of the concentrated source water, while maintaining balance of the scale formation and corrosive tendencies of the water. Despite such advantages, these methods have the drawback of being prone to greater risk of scale and/or corrosion consequences with excursions with the acid/pH control system. Moreover, there is an overall increase in corrosion potential due to the higher ionic or electrolytic strength of the water that results from addition of acid ions that are concentrated along with ions in the source water. Lower pH corrosion control methods further rely on significantly higher chemical additive residuals to offset corrosive tendencies, but are limited in effectiveness without the use of heavy metals. Silica concentration must still be controlled at maximum residuals by system water wastage to avoid potential silica scaling.
In a further approach, source water is pretreated to remove hardness ions in a small proportion of systems to control calcium and magnesium scale potentials. These applications, however, have still relied on control of silica residuals at previous maximum guideline levels through water wastage to prevent silica scale deposits. Corrosion protection is also less effective with softened water due to elimination of the balance of scale and corrosion tendency provided by the natural hardness in the source water.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for methods that are efficiently operative to inhibit corrosion and scale formation that do not rely upon the use of heavy metals, extensive acidification and/or water wastage that are known and practiced in the prior art. There is additionally a need in the art for such processes that, in addition to being efficient, are extremely cost-effective and environmentally safe. Exemplary of those processes that would likely benefit from such methods would include cooling water processes, cooling tower systems, evaporative coolers, cooling lakes or ponds, and closed or secondary cooling and heating loops. In each of these processes, heat is transferred to or from the water. In evaporative cooling water processes, heat is added to the water and evaporation of some of the water takes place. As the water is evaporated, the silica (or silicates) will concentrate and if the silica concentration exceeds its solubility, it can deposit to form either a vitreous coating or an adherent scale that can normally be removed only by laborious mechanical or chemical cleaning. Along these lines, at some point in the above processes, heat is extracted from the water, making any dissolved silicate less soluble and thus further likely to deposit on surfaces, thus requiring removal. Accordingly, a method for preventing fouling of surfaces with silica or silicates, that further allows the use of higher levels of silica/silicates for corrosion control would be exceptionally advantageous. In this respect for cooling water, an inhibition method has long been sought after that would enable silica to be used as a non-toxic and environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitor.
To address these specific concerns, the current practice in these particular processes is to limit the silica or silicate concentration in the water so that deposition from these compounds does not occur. For example in cooling water, the accepted practice is to limit the amount of silica or silicates to about 150 mg/L, expressed as SiO2. Reportedly, the best technology currently available for control of silica or silicates in cooling water is either various low molecular weight polymers, various organic phosphate chemistries, and combinations thereof. Even with use of these chemical additives, however, silica is still limited to 180 mg/L in most system applications. Because in many arid areas of the U.S. and other parts of the world make-up water may contain from 50–90 mg/L silica, cooling water can only be concentrated 2 to 3 times such levels before the risk of silica or silicate deposition becomes too great. A method that would enable greater re-use or cycling of this silica-limited cooling water would be a great benefit to these areas.